Kilifi residents get titles, bid land rows bye
There was joy in Kilifi as hundreds of residents officially became proud land owners, after the government distributed title deeds in an ongoing countrywide drive.
For many years, Kilifi residents have been locked in land ownership conflicts with potential land grabbers, but the government has now embarked on the distribution of the vital documents to the rightful owners.
Kilifi County Commissioner, Kutswa Olaka, accompanied by former Lands Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Ministry of Lands and Kilifi County gubernatorial aspirant, Gideon Mung’aro, visited Ganze, Rabai and Kilifi South, to oversee the distribution of over 12,000 title deeds.
Rabai residents led by Patricia Mlaa, expressed their happiness, saying they had spent a lot of money in an endless struggle to acquire title deeds for many years without much success. She thanked the current administration led by President Uhuru Kenyatta, for availing the documents right in their areas of residence, without charge.
“We have been in a state of helplessness looking for these title deeds but I am thankful for this day. We used to spend a lot on journeys and still came back with nothing. We have been struggling, but our aspiring leaders and those in power have made us proud, because they have finally brought them home,” she said with joy. They added that getting their title deeds has given them peace of mind and lauded the government for its prompt solution to their land woes.
“The documents have made us happy and we remain thankful to the President, you have been of great assistance to us,” said Justine Wanje, a resident of Ruruma village.
The County Commissioner during his address to residents at Petanguo village in Ganze, said the propaganda that Kilifi region had been neglected on land issues was misleading, since the government has been working to solve the problem over the last ten years.
Government initiative
Olaka told the residents that over 5,000 title deeds belonging to Ganze residents were ready for collection and ordered the Sub-County Administration to store them safely and make them easily accessible to the owners, who did not show up for the issuance exercise.
“The government has set aside hundreds of millions of shillings, to ensure residents of Kilifi also benefit from the processing and distribution of title deeds. The fruits of that government initiative are that right now we have more than 39,000 title deeds. We distributed some of them in Kaloleni last week, we did the same in Magarini and Malindi,” he said.
Mung’aro took credit of the land ownership achievements, saying he is the one who pushed for the whole process of preparing the documents, when he served as the CAS for Lands in the outgoing government. - KNA
